Carole Lombard
Carole and Clark
Today is the anniversary of the death of the movie star and homesteader Carole Lombard.
Lombard died tragically when her plane crashed shortly after taking off from Las Vegas.
Three years earlier, just before the premiere of Gone With the Wind, Carole had married Clark Gable.
As newlyweds, Carole and Clark had bought a 21-acre estate - just 40 minutes outside of Beverly Hills. Instead of living glamorously, they turned the estate into a working farm. Lombard had sold her star sapphire collection to fund their dream.
Carole set up all the crops they would grow, and she worked long hours on the ranch. They had an orchard/citrus grove, a dairy, and a vineyard, and the farm produced peaches, grapes, oranges, lemons, walnuts, apricots, hay, and alfalfa. They used the alfalfa they grew for feed. They sent their grapes to the local hospital. The Farmers Association marketed their citrus crop. Many biographies mention that Carole and Clark raised turkeys for MGM to use at its commissary. Carole bought Clark a tractor, and Clark enjoyed taking care of his two prized racehorses and the cattle. To top it all off: Carole and Clark called each other “Ma” and “Pa.” They were really and truly living a farm fantasy. They even used kerosene lamps in their living room.
They loved their simple life together on their ranch, and Carole loved watching things grow.